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Gregory Fernando Pappas is a Distinguished Research Fellow for the Latino Research Initiative at The University of Texas at Austin (2017-2018) and Professor of Philosophy at Texas A & M University. Dr. Pappas works within the American Pragmatist and Latin American traditions in ethics and social-political philosophy. His current research project, “An Inter-American Approach to the Problems of Injustice”, develops a theoretical framework for approaching problems of injustice in Latino com...Read Moreabout Gregory Fernando Pappas, PhD

Dr. Sharon Gursky has been studying wild tarsiers in Indonesia since 1990 and in the Philippines since 2010. Her dissertation research focused on the parental care patterns of spectral tarsiers, exploring questions concerning the infant parking strategy of the spectral tarsiers. She has also studied the ecological and social factors leading to gregarious behavior, predation and the function of mobbing behavior as well as the influence of moonlight on behavior. Her current work focuses on the function of ultrasonic vocalizations, vocalizations outside the range of human hearing. Dr. Gursky’s research has dramatically shaped current understanding of the biology and behavior of spectral tarsiers such that her colleagues renamed a primate species in her honor as Gursky’s Tarsier, Tarsius spectrumgurskyae. Dr. Gursky is well known for having redisco...Read Moreabout Sharon Gursky, PhD

James E. Womack, PhD

University Distinguished ProfessorDepartment of Veterinary PathobiologyWolf Prize in Agriculture, 2001

Dr. James E. (Jim) Womack is a geneticist whose research interests are focused on comparative mammalian genomics, with emphasis on the bovine genome and its relationship to that of other mammals, particularly mice and humans. The application of comparative genomics in the Womack laboratory is directed toward discovery of genomic variation among and within breeding populations and the role of this variation in host response to pathogens. He, with collaborators and students, has published more than 370 articles in peer reviewed journals. He was elected to the National Academy of Sciences USA in 1999, and in 2001 was recipient of the Wolf Prize, the world’s most prestigious award for research in agriculture “for the use of recombinant DNA technology to revolutionize animal sciences, paving the way for applications in neighboring fields.” Wom...Read Moreabout James E. Womack, PhD

John L. Junkins, PhD

University Distinguished ProfessorDepartment of Aerospace EngineeringMember, National Academy of Engineering, 1996

John L. Junkins, University Distinguished Professor of Aerospace Engineering and holder of the Royce E. Wisenbaker Chair in Innovation in Texas A&M University’s College of Engineering, is the Founding Director of the Hagler Institute for Advanced Study. Junkins led the effort to launch the Institute in 2011. The Institute was officially renamed the Hagler Institute for Advanced Study in 2017 after long-time A&M benefactor Jon C. Hagler endowed the Institute with a $20 million gift.

Junkins began his career with NASA at age 19 during the Apollo program. He then time-shared graduate study at UCLA with employment at McDonnell-Douglas, where he supported launches of satellites aboard Delta rockets. Following previous appointments at the University of Virginia and Virginia Tec...Read Moreabout John L. Junkins, PhD

Eduardo Espina has published a dozen books of poetry, essay and literary criticism, with four more currently in the works. After getting his Ph.D. in Latin America Literature at Washington University-in-St. Louis and teaching at Amherst College, Espina arrived at Texas A&M University in 1987. Currently, he is a professor in the department of Hispanic Studies. During his time at A&M, Professor Espina has been awarded the Association of Former Students Distinguished Achievement Award in Teaching (2007) and Research (2016). Espina has also taught at Middlebury College. His field of specialization is innovative literatures of the Americas (poetry and essay) XIX, XX and XXI centuries. In an article published in Letras Libres, the most prestigious literary journal in the Spanish speaking world, José Kozer described Espina as “perhaps the most imaginati...Read Moreabout Eduardo Espina, PhD

Dr. Binayak Mohanty of the Department of Biological and Agricultural Engineering has been elected to the rank of Fellow by the Council of the American Association for the Advancement of Science “for preeminent efforts in the application of remote sensing platforms for understanding multi-scale hydrology and developing scaling rules for soil moisture and hydrologic fluxes.” Dr. Mohanty is a Regents Professor and College of Agriculture and Life Sciences (COALS) Chair in Hydrologic Engineering and Sciences. Mohanty has a unique role in modern hydrology and flow through porous media. He is an international leader in using satellite remote sensing as a tool to study soil moisture, soil hydraulics, and evapotranspiration at different scales. His seminal contributions have provided unprecedented tools and techniques to address wide spectrum of challenges re...Read Moreabout Binayak P. Mohanty, PhD

Dr. Barbara Gastel is a medical school graduate specializing in biomedical writing and editing, science-communication teaching, and international communication of science. Her publications include Presenting Science to the Public and Health Writer’s Handbook, and she is first author of the most recent edition of How to Write and Publish a Scientific Paper. She also has played major roles in developing AuthorAID, an international project to help researchers in developing countries to write about and publish their work. Dr. Gastel earned her baccalaureate degree in combined sciences (biology/history of medicine) from Yale University, her MD from Johns Hopkins University, and her master’s degree in public health from Johns Hopkins University. After an American Association for the Advancement of Science mass media fellowship at Newsweek and positions at...Read Moreabout Barbara Gastel, MD, MPH

Nancy Klein

Associate ProfessorDepartment of ArchitectureNational Endowment for the Humanities, 2005

Dr. Nancy Klein is a classical archaeologist and architectural historian who explores the built environment of the ancient Mediterranean world. In her archaeological fieldwork, she is part of a multidisciplinary team examining the relationship of architecture, society, and material culture at the Late Bronze Age/Early Iron Age site of Kavousi Vronda, Crete, and is co-author of two volumes presenting the results of this research. Dr. Klein is an authority on ancient Greek architecture and has published articles and book chapters on early Greek architecture, the development of the classical orders, and construction methods. Her current research project re-examines the archaeological and architectural evidence for the archaic/early classical sanctuary on the Acropolis of Athens. By using innovative approaches to documenting and interpreting fragmentary physical remains, this research off...Read Moreabout Nancy Klein

Guoyao Wu, PhD

University Distinguished ProfessorDepartment of Animal ScienceFellow, American Association for the Advancement of Science, 2012

Dr. Wu received the B.S. in Animal Science from South China Agricultural University in Guangzhou, China (1982), the M.S. in Animal Nutrition from China Agricultural University in Beijing, China (1984), and the M.Sc. (1986) and Ph.D. (1989) in Animal Biochemistry from the University of Alberta in Canada. Dr. Wu completed his postdoctoral training in diabetes, nutrition and biochemistry at McGill University Faculty of Medicine (1989-1991) and Memorial University of Newfoundland Faculty of Medicine in Canada (1991). He joined the Texas A&M University faculty in October 1991. Currently, he is a University Distinguished Professor and University Faculty Fellow. His research focuses on the biochemistry, nutrition and physiology of amino acids and related nutrients in animals (particularly swine, sheep, cattle, chickens, rats and fish). Dr. Wu has published 565 papers in peer-review...Read Moreabout Guoyao Wu, PhD

Alan Needleman, PhD

University Distinguished ProfessorDepartment of Materials Science and EngineeringMember, National Academy of Engineering, 2000

Dr. Alan Needleman has made a variety of novel and well-recognized contributions to understanding the mechanical behavior of materials, including a role, with Viggo Tvergaard, in developing the most widely used ductile fracture modeling framework (the GTN model). In recent work, Dr. Needleman (with collaborators) used this framework to quantitatively relate a material’s fracture mechanism, crack growth resistance and fracture surface roughness. This provides a relation between: (i) the engineering community that focuses on crack growth resistance; (ii) the materials science community that focuses on physical mechanisms; and (iii) the physics community that focuses on the fractal nature of fracture surfaces. Dr. Needleman also developed a cohesive surface method for fracture analysis that has become a standard engineering tool. Another example is the development, ...Read Moreabout Alan Needleman, PhD

Carrie L. Byington, MD

Dean, College of MedicineSenior Vice President of the Texas A&M University Health Science Center and Vice Chancellor for Health Services at The Texas A&M University SystemMember, National Academy of Medicine, 2017

Carrie L. Byington, M.D., is Dean of the Texas A&M College of Medicine, Senior Vice President of the Texas A&M University Health Science Center and Vice Chancellor for Health Services at The Texas A&M University System. Dr. Byington joined Texas A&M after a 21-year career at the University of Utah, where she was the H.A. and Edna Benning Presidential Professor of Pediatrics, Vice Dean for Academic Affairs and Faculty Development in the School of Medicine, and Associate Vice President for Faculty and Academic Affairs at the University of Utah Health Sciences Center. Dr. Byington is the first Mexican American woman to hold the position of dean and senior vice president for an academic medical center in the United States. As a clinician-scientist, Byington is developing improved diagnostics for bacterial and viral respiratory pathogens in children. Sh...Read Moreabout Carrie L. Byington, MD

Ignacio Rodriguez Iturbe, PhD

University Distinguished ProfessorDepartment of Ocean EngineeringMember, National Academy of Sciences, 2010

A member of the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Engineering, and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, Prof. Rodriguez-Iturbe is a hydrologist who has extensively contributed and deeply impacted a wide range of topics in the water sciences. His work in the statistical modeling of space-time rainfall and the long range characteristics of streamflow series is very frequently referred to. This is clear from his h-index of 86 and total citations of over 28,000 ( Google Scholar). For his work in these and related areas he received- early in his career- the Macelwane Award and the Hydrologic Research Prize of the American Geophysical Union (AGU), the Huber Research Prize and the V.T. Chow Awards of the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE), and the Horton Lecture Award of the American Meteorological Society.

Fuller Bazer, PhD

University Distinguished ProfessorDepartment of Animal ScienceWolf Prize in Agriculture, 2003

Professor Fuller W. Bazer is a reproductive biologist/animal scientist whose research focuses on interactions between the maternal uterine environment and developing conceptus (embryo/fetus and placenta). His research integrates biochemistry and physiology to define expression, endocrine control, and function of molecules secreted into the uterus during pregnancy and required for conceptus development. He discovered uteroferrin, a purple acid phosphatase produced by uterine glandular epithelium under the control of progesterone, that supplies maternal iron to the conceptus and stimulates expression of transcription factors for hematopoiesis and synthesis of hemoglobin genes. Those discoveries changed the management of animals to increase conceptus survival and pregnancy success. He also identified the pregnancy recognition signals in swine as estradiol and interferon...Read Moreabout Fuller Bazer, PhD

Marcetta Darensbourg, PhD

University Distinguished Professor Department of ChemistryMember, National Academy of Sciences, 2017

Dr. Marcetta Darensbourg is a leader in developing methods to perfect hydrogen-powered fuel cell technology. Her research currently focuses on biology-inspired chemistry and the simplest of all molecules, hydrogen, in her laboratory's search for inexpensive, eco-friendly alternative energy options. Her research group introduces Earth-abundant elements—iron, nickel and sulfur—into molecular catalysts intended to replace platinum as the kick-starter in hydrogen fuel cells. In 1995, she became the first woman to receive the American Chemical Society (ACS) Distinguished Service in the Advancement of Inorganic Chemistry Award, the society's top annual honor in this realm. She is an inaugural Fellow of the ACS (2009) as well as a Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry (2014) and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences (20...Read Moreabout Marcetta Darensbourg, PhD

Dr. Srividhya Ragavan is a Professor of Law specializing in intellectual property and international trade issues. Her research focuses on the interplay between international trade law and intellectual property issues with a developmental perspective. Her work emphasizes issues that affect developing nations from embracing the trade regime. Her publications have expounded diverse topics such as traditional knowledge, pharmaceutical patenting and agricultural subsidies. Other than the numerous law reviews and book chapters Ragavan has authored, her first monograph titled Patent and Trade Disparities in Developing Countries was published by the Oxford University Press in 2012. The book was later republished specifically for the South Asian market. Her second book, with Professor Irene Calboli, titled Diversity in Intellectual Property: Identities, Interests, and Int...Read Moreabout Srividhya Ragavan, LLM

Dr. Leif Andersson is a specialist in genetics and genome biology. He has made groundbreaking studies on the relationship between genetic and phenotypic variation. He has been working on comparative genomics using domestic animals as study objects the last 30 years. The work has focused on domestic animals as models for phenotypic evolution and resulted in a steady stream of interesting findings on genotype-phenotype relationships such as mutations affecting pigmentation, gait in horses, comb morphology in chickens and muscle growth in pigs. He has also studied the genetic basis for domestication of rabbits, chicken and pigs. More recently the research program has been expanded to include natural populations such as the Darwin’s finches, the ruff and Atlantic herring because of the exciting opportunities opened up by the development of new sequencing technologies...Read Moreabout Leif Andersson, PhD

Akhil Datta-Gupta, PhD

University Distinguished ProfessorDepartment of Petroleum Engineering
Member National Academy of Engineering, 2012

Understanding fluid flow and transport in the subsurface is critical for hydrocarbon recovery, groundwater management, environmental remediation and sequestration of greenhouse gases. Dr. Akhil Datta-Gupta’s technical interests are in the theory and practice of efficient numerical simulation schemes for modeling and visualization of fluid flow and transport in high resolution geologic models, performance assessment of conventional and unconventional (tight gas and shale gas/oil) hydrocarbon reservoirs and geologic carbon sequestration. His research areas include 3-D streamline simulation and fast marching methods for petroleum reservoir development, optimal placement of wells, reservoir management/ monitoring and maximizing hydrocarbon recovery from matured oil fields. A prerequisite to fluid flow modeling is subsurface characterization and imaging through ...Read Moreabout Akhil Datta-Gupta, PhD

Mark T. Holtzapple, PhD

ProfessorDepartment of Animal ScienceFellow, American Association for the Advancement of Science, 2012

Dr. Mark Holtzapple received his chemical engineering degrees from Cornell University (BS, 1978) and the University of Pennsylvania (PhD, 1981). After his formal education, he served as a captain in the US Army Natick R&D Center and worked on a miniature air conditioner for soldiers wearing chemical protective clothing. In 1986, he joined the faculty in the Department of Chemical Engineering at Texas A&M University. He has received many awards for teaching and research, including the Presidential Green Chemistry Challenge Award from the president and vice president of the United States. His research focuses on sustainability including conversion of waste biomass to fuels, chemicals, and animal feed; high-efficiency engines and air conditioners; conversion of waste heat to electricity; high-torque electric motors; and water desalination.

Karen L. Butler-Purry, PhD

ProfessorDepartment of Electrical & Computer Engineering, Associate Provost for Graduate & Professional StudiesAAAS Mentor Award, American Association for the Advancement of Science, 2005

Dr. Butler-Purry leads a research group at Texas A&M’s Power System Automation Laboratory, which investigates all aspects of automation, control, and protection of electric power systems. Her research interests are in the areas of protection and control of distribution systems and isolated power systems such as all electric power systems for ships, mobile grids, and microgrids, cybersecurity protection, intelligent systems for equipment deterioration and fault diagnosis, and engineering education. She is a registered professional engineer in the states of LA, TX and MS. In addition, she has been involved in fellowship and education program projects with the National Science Foundation and the Department of Education and directed several of these programs that target recruitment, retention and advancement of pre-college, college,...Read Moreabout Karen L. Butler-Purry, PhD

Faculty Honors, Prizes, and Awards

Awards bring prestige and recognition to the university and honor deserving scholars. They are not only a recognition of faculty excellence, but also an important metric of institutional performance. Many Texas A&M faculty have been honored by prestigious recognitions, including those highlighted below.